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Description:
For when the first search just didn't quite cut it...
Transcript
- 00:04
[Coop and Dino singing]
- 00:13
Okay, so research might sound a little boring… [Person falls off chair]
- 00:16
And, sure, it might even be a tiny bit… boring.
- 00:17
But it doesn’t have to be! Think of it like an adventure. Like you're Indiana Jones…
- 00:24
in front of a computer. [Indiana Jones looking at a computer]
Full Transcript
- 00:25
Once you’ve identified the topic you’ll be writing a paper about – and put on your
- 00:29
fedora - the research process begins.
- 00:32
Okay, so maybe it's not that triumphant.
- 00:36
Anyway, chances are, you already know at least little bit about your topic, and can quickly
- 00:41
come up with some key words to research. [Girl thinking of topics]
- 00:43
But if you don’t know anything about your topic, what the heck have you been up to?
- 00:47
Just kidding. You’re not totally out of luck. All you have to do is start by conducting [Person typing on a keyboard]
- 00:51
a quick search on your topic. And don't worry, we’re not going to ask
- 00:55
you to avoid using the Internet for your research because, let’s be real, it would be crazy
- 00:59
not to take advantage of how much easier research is online.
- 01:02
But we are gonna ask you to be a little bit careful when you do it. [Girl browsing internet]
- 01:06
Because as easy as it is for you to do research on the internet…
- 01:09
… it’s just as easy for someone to put up any information they want – whether it’s
- 01:13
true or not.
- 01:14
Seriously, check this out…
- 01:15
What can we say? Not every site is as reliable as Shmoop.
- 01:20
Uh…moving on.
- 01:21
Another thing to think about is where you should go to research a topic. You wouldn’t [Boy driving a car]
- 01:25
ask a car mechanic for advice on a broken computer…
- 01:28
...so naturally, you'll want to make sure your research comes from a trustworthy source.
- 01:31
That’s why with any kind of research you do, it’s important to check that the source [Magnifying glass inspecting online resource]
- 01:35
is reliable. So how do you know a source is reliable? Well,
- 01:40
one clue to look for is if it's been checked out and approved by another trustworthy group,
- 01:45
like the government, or a university.
- 01:47
You can also probably rely on sources that have something to lose if they provide false [Coop discussing trustworthy groups]
- 01:51
information, like well-known magazines, or respected newspapers.
- 01:54
Basically, if somebody put their reputation on the line to tell you that all cats are
- 01:58
purple, you can probably believe that all cats are purple. [Person looking at a purple cat on mobile phone]
- 02:01
…Okay, that’s a bad example. But you get the point.
- 02:05
When you're doing research, always be sure to keep track of where you get your information.
- 02:09
That way, if anyone has questions about what you’ve written, you know where to send them
- 02:12
to see for themselves.
- 02:14
The proof is in the pudding, baby. And the pudding is… a piece of paper. Man…that's [Pieces of paper in a bowl]
- 02:19
some disappointing pudding. When done correctly, citing your research
- 02:22
sources will also help you avoid plagiarism, which is when you use someone else’s words
- 02:26
or ideas as if they were your own.
- 02:28
And we know you’d never actually plagiarize on purpose, because that’s one of the worst [Boy researching online and siren sounds]
- 02:32
things you can do in school. That, and promising people pudding, then bringing paper instead.
- 02:37
Seriously, that's really disappointing. And, just in case you wanna get crazy with
- 02:41
it, you can also do research with actual physical books and magazines. Come to think of it, [Indiana Jones in a library]
- 02:46
we're pretty sure that's how Indy would do it...
- 02:48
These sources are usually checked out by an editor before they get published, so you can
- 02:52
usually trust them. . Another great thing about real, physical sources?
- 02:56
Unlike some internet sites, books don’t contain viruses. [Boy carrying books]
- 02:59
Well… hopefully.
- 03:00
Now if you'd excuse us, we have a hankering for some pudding. [Girl preparing to eat paper pudding]
- 03:04
Aw, man…not again…
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